Caorunn Gin: Martinez Event

22 RedBank. Photography studio, bar, coffee shop.

But briefly, very briefly, it hosted a 1920s bar, housed in a horsebox, complete with vintage glassware, Prohibition era cocktails and with Caorunn Gin brand ambassador Ervin Trykowski.

It’s always an adventure when anyone from the Liquorists is even vaguely involved…

The Martinez event was a night to showcase Carounn Scottish craft gin with an array of vintage cocktails, as well as an opportunity for us to experience it’s more unusual botanicals in spritz form.

Caorunn gin is made in small batches (around 1000 litres) in the Balmenach Distillery in Scotland, previously more well known for its Malt Whisky, by master distiller Simon. The still (unnamed which seems a little bit of a shame) is an old perfume still and so uses a tray method to infuse the botanicals into the pure grain spirit used in it’s production. There’s a beautiful image of the still on the Caorunn website.

As well as some of the more usual suspects, juniper berries, coriander seed, orange and lemon peel, angelica root and cassia bark, Caorunn uses five ‘celtic’ botanicals, growing locally to create it’s unique taste, rowan berry, bog myrtle, heather, coul blush apple and dandelion leaf. All are hand picked from areas surrounding the distillery

The result is a gin that’s soft and creamy on the palate, with a hint of pepper and citrus. It’s light floral nature makes it ideal as a sipping gin, and when it comes to a G&T, a lighter tonic such as Fentiman’s or Fever-Tree is recommended with a slice of apple as a garnish. Delicious.

But the evening was also to showcase Caorunn as a cocktail gin. With so many botanicals, there are a lot of elements that can be brought to life with additions. Our host, Ervin, wanted to hark back to the cocktails of 1920s and 1930s Europe – while the USA was enamoured with rum, us Europeans were far more interested the creations of a certain Dundee export, Harry MacElhone at Harry’s Bar in Paris.

It was from this legendary bartender that Ervin took inspiration for our first cocktail, the White Lady No.2. Gin, Triple Sec, lemon juice and gomme are shaken together and double strained and garnished with lemon zest.

A delightful start to the evening, the soft citrus both cleansed the palate and the senses – Ervin having smoothed the zest over both the stem and the rim of the glass.

Our second cocktail was inspired by Ervin’s own admission – he loves blue cocktails. The Blue  Ribband mixed Caorunn with Creme de Cacao White, Triple Sec and a few drops of blue food colouring (in this case procured via an ice cream van in Scotland). The drink is shaken and double strained again, before being garnished with a lemon zest.

Admittedly, this was a little sweet for me, even though it was quite well balanced with a dry after note. The sweetness was almost corn-like sweetness – described by one of the guests as ‘smelling like Frosties!’.

Our third cocktail of the evening was the Monkey Gland. Gin, orange juice, lemon juice, grenadine and my old favourite Absinthe are shaken to create this citrussy blend. From a purely geeky point of view, the origins of this cocktail and the resurrection in this area of research have proved fascinating. But I digress.

Our penultimate cocktail was McElhone’s 75 Cocktail. A relation of the French 75 (or Soixante Quinze)  the original contains no Champagne and so in this case was simply Caorunn, Calvados, grenadine and 2 dashes absinthe, garnished again with lemon zest. The Calvados worked so beautifully with the Caorunn, bringing out some of the more floral notes and was certainly one of the more popular across the board with attendees.

Finally, we visited one of the most celebrated cocktail bartenders of her generation, Ada Coleman and her creation, the Hanky Panky. Caorunn, Italian Red Vermouth and 2 dashes Fernet branca are stirred  and strained, before being garnished with an orange twist.

Created as a pick me up for Victorian and Edwardian actor Charles Hawtrey (not the chap from the Carry On films) this has a lovely edge of spiciness to it and deeper citrus from the orange.

The whole evening was a combination of vintage elegance, history lesson, alcoholic geekery all with cocktails in hand. And now, for a little something else.

 

*********GIVEAWAY KLAXON**********

Yes, those gorgeous people at Caorunn have given me a bottle to give away to you. Aren’t they lovely?

To enter, all you need to do is comment at the bottom of this post. No frills, no fuss.

Of course, terms and conditions will apply and are detailed below.

GOOD LUCK! 

1. This giveaway is open to residents of the United Kingdom only.

2.  You must be aged over 18 to enter this competition. Your date of birth will be queried. 

3. The competition is open from 1 May 2014 and will close at 12:00pm, Thursday 15 May.  The draw will then take place and the winner notified (within 24 hours).

4. The winner will be picked at random (via random.org).

5.  There are no cash alternatives, or alternative prizes on offer.

6.  The decision is final.

7. I will contact the winner by both email and via twitter if the twitter handle is detailed in the entry comment.

With grateful thanks to Chris W Parker Photography for the images.